Question: Express this product in scientific notation: $(3.60\times 10^{5})\times (5.00\times 10^{2})$
Start by collecting like terms together. $= (3.60\times 5.00) \times (10^{5}\times 10^{2})$ When multiplying exponents with the same base, add the powers together. $= 18.0 \times 10^{5\,+\,2}$ $= 18.0 \times 10^{7}$ To write the answer correctly in scientific notation, the first number needs to be between $1$ and $10$ . In this case, we need to move the decimal one position to the left without changing the value of our answer. $ $ We can use the fact that $18.0$ is the same as $1.800 \times 10$ $ = {1.800 \times 10} \times 10^{7} $ $= 1.800\times 10^{8}$